Yangon  - Myanmar's junta has launched a nationwide billboard campaign to encourage people to vote "yes" in a referendum scheduled May 10 that is likely to institutionalize the military's dominant role in politics, news reports said Friday.

The billboards, which started going up in the former capital of Yangon on Thursday, urge the populace to approve the newly drafted constitution with such exhortations as "To approve the State Constitution is a national duty of the entire people today," and "Let's cast 'Yes' vote in the interest of the nation."

Others, reflecting the xenophobia for which Myanmar's military regime is notorious, read, "Let us all who are equipped with ardent patriotism, who cherish genuine independence, who aspire perpetuation of sovereignty, who loathe foreign interference and manipulation, and who oppose puppet government with strings of colonialist, vote 'Yes' for ratification of the Constitution."

Myanmar's military-sponsored constitution, which took 14 years to draft, will be voted on in a referendum on May 10.

Although eligible voters will be allowed to vote yes or no for the new constitution, previous government statements, and now billboards, have made it clear that the junta sees the referendum as a means of "approving" the new charter.

In February, the junta issued a new law threatening anyone who publicly criticizes the referendum with three years imprisonment and a fine.

The new constitution will essentially legitimize the military's dominant role in any future government.

Under the draft charter, 110 members of 440-seat lower house, or People's Parliament, and 56 members of the 224-seat upper house, or National Parliament, will be selected by the military.

This 25 per cent control over both houses will effectively bar amendments to the charter that might threaten the military's dominance, observers have noted.

For an amendment to pass, it would require over 75 per cent support of parliament.

Despite government pressure on the Myanmar people to approve the draft constitution on May 10, there is a growing campaign to vote against it, led by the National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party which is headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The NLD on Thursday issued special statement slamming the junta for its heavy-handed manipulation of the referendum .

"But NLD cannot make propagation for draft constitution because NLD members were questioned by authorities in some divisions," the statement said.

The NLD urged all eligible voters to vote "No" without fear and anxiety. (dpa)